Friday October 11, 2024, a preview of the animated film “Sauvages”, by Claude Barras, was organized at the Even cinema in Lesneven. The official release is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16. During the day, 300 local schoolchildren applauded the film, while the screening open to the general public in the evening was a full house.
The story of “Sauvages” follows Kéria, who lives in the rainforests of Borneo with her father. After saving a baby orangutan, whose mother was killed by loggers, she sees her cousin Sélaï arrive, forced to flee her village due to conflicts between logging companies and the Penan people, who are fighting to protect their habitat. Together, they undertake a journey through the forest, where Kéria becomes aware of the extent of deforestation while discovering the truth about her mother’s disappearance. Determined, she then launches into a fight to save the forest of her ancestors.
A stop motion film designed in Brittany
Antoine Le Bos, artistic director of Groupe Ouest, spoke after the screening. “This animated film was designed in Brittany,” he says. The scenario was initiated at Groupe Ouest by Claude Barras, Nancy Huston and Morgan Navarro, during their year of residency. The sets and puppets were created in a Rennes studio as well as the filming of the feature film in “stop motion”, an animation technique requiring photographing objects or characters frame by frame, with slight movements between each shot. “The amount of work required for this film is impressive, with a total of 8,000 days of work accumulated by the technicians,” explained Antoine Le Bos. “It is a militant film but one which does not oppose the modern world and nature in a binary confrontation,” he explains.
However, it’s hard not to smile while watching forest dwellers using cell phones and listening to music through a smart speaker. “Claude Barras’ first feature film, “My Life as a Zucchini” was awarded a César. Let’s hope that “Sauvages” will achieve the same success,” concluded Antoine Le Bos.
